Study: Children Raised By Gay Couples Healthier, Happier Than General Population

By

On Top Magazine Staff

|
July 06, 2014

A study released last week by
researchers at the University of Melbourne found children raised by
gay and lesbian couples are healthier and happier than the general
population.

Researchers surveyed 500 children being
raised by 315 same-sex parents.

On average, children raised by gay
couples scored 6% higher than the general population on measures of
general health and family cohesion.

“That's really a measure that looks
at how well families get along, and it seems that same-sex-parents
families and the children in them are getting along well, and this
has positive impacts on child health,” lead researcher Doctor Simon
Crouch told the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

“Quite often, people talk about
marriage equality in the context of family and that marriage is
necessary to raise children in the right environment, and that you
need a mother and a father to be able to do that, and therefore
marriage should be restricted to male and female couples,” he said.
“I think what the study suggests in that context is that actually
children can be brought up in many different family contexts, and it
shouldn't be a barrier to marriage equality.”

Roslyn Phillips of the Christian
conservative group FamilyVoice Australia questioned the objectivity
of Dr. Crouch, who is a gay parent.

“I acknowledge that I am from a
same-sex-parent family, however I am one of a number of researchers
on the paper who come from all sorts of different backgrounds,” Dr.
Crouch said. “There's a wide range of research across many
different areas; first and foremost I'm a researcher, I'm a medical
doctor and I'm a public health practitioner, and the objectivity I
bring to this study doesn't depend on my own personal situation.”